


but with the mind

by skatingsplits



Category: Bodyguard (TV 2018)
Genre: AU: Blind Date, F/M, Mild Smut, jed mercurio can't touch them, ridiculously au like the worst thing that has happened to these two is a failed marriage each, the concept not the tv show with Cilla Black, this is entirely self-indulgent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-09
Updated: 2018-10-09
Packaged: 2019-07-28 09:40:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16239011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skatingsplits/pseuds/skatingsplits
Summary: By unspoken agreement, they didn't order anything except drinks at first. There didn't seem much point. He was visibly uncomfortable; obviously unused to the grandeur of his environment, his eyes kept flickering to the vast window with its apparently unparalleled view of the London skyline. Her gaze was primarily fixed on the man in front of her, impassive.





	but with the mind

**Author's Note:**

> This is what happens when I have a very stressful week at work, I have no other excuse.

By unspoken agreement, they didn't order anything except drinks at first. There didn't seem much point. He was visibly uncomfortable; obviously unused to the grandeur of his environment, his eyes kept flickering to the vast window with its apparently unparalleled view of the London skyline. Her gaze was primarily fixed on the man in front of her, impassive. Julia had ordered a glass of the house red, eyes briefly scanning his face for any flicker of judgement after he'd only asked for ice water. Their menus sat undisturbed for now on the crisp white tablecloth.

It would have surely been obvious to a keen observer that the two people seated at that particular table had never had dinner together before. Julia Montague’s posture couldn't have been called relaxed- her back was too upright and her jaw too clenched for that- but a passing eye would have pinned her as unruffled, unworried. This was not exactly the case, largely because of her dinner companion. He'd obviously tried hard, Julia could see that. His clothes were nice, appropriate, but in Julia's opinion they were wearing him rather than the other way around. His blazer was a little too large and didn't quite go with the colour of his tie, but his shirt was beautifully starched and his hair was attractively styled in a way she was willing to bet took more than a few minutes in front of a mirror. The effect was slightly marred, however, by the crinkle in his brow and she found herself wishing he'd chosen the restaurant. Even if it had been vile, she was fairly sure she'd have been better at least pretending to be comfortable somewhere that didn't make him frown like he was sitting a particularly difficult algebra exam.

'Do you do this a lot?’ She said eventually, because she needed to say something. He didn't exactly seem the shy type- when he'd introduced himself he'd seemed a little awkward but not unconfident- but he wasn't talking either. Maybe he was just embarrassed, she thought, and she really didn't blame him.

'This? No, not a lot' he had almost laughed at that, she thought, but she wasn't sure if it was genuine amusement or derision. ‘Look, can I be honest?’

'There's absolutely nothing stopping you' she raised an eyebrow, perfectly aware that when people felt the need to declare they were about to be honest, it was usually followed by a lie.

‘I think we both know this is a waste of time' he said, and her eyebrows shot even further up her forehead. Not a lie, then, a very forthright truth.

‘Well. I had been thinking something similar myself but I didn't really expect you to say it.’

‘Ah, that's not what you're supposed to do on these sorts of things? Tell the truth?’ This was a little more like it, she thought. Nothing to get people talking like an admission of mutual humiliation. 

'Honestly, I've no idea. I've never been on one of ‘these sorts of things' before. But I imagine the more normal thing to do would be to make excuses, fake a phone call, something like that' she saw surprise briefly cross his features. Had he really thought she was invested in this? He was a detective, she thought she remembered Anne saying, surely he'd be a little better at reading body language than that.

‘I imagine you're right. But from the very little information I've been given, it seems like you're too intelligent to buy any bullshit I could make up' well, he wasn't wrong about that, she thought ‘And I don't want to be rude but if you've never been on one of these things before, can I ask why you're on this one?’ It was a fair question, even if she'd rather not have had to answer it. ‘

Honestly? I owed Anne a big favour, she said you badly needed some human interaction, and I happened to be free this evening' if honesty had become the evening's watchword, Julia was certainly able to step up to the plate.

‘I see’ her companion said, and this time she was sure he was stifling a laugh. ‘She said to me that you were in danger of becoming a housebound spinster and she'd owe me a month of babysitting favours if I went out with you tonight.’ 

'I am not a housebound spinster!’ Julia exclaimed, only realising how loud she'd been when all the occupants of the surrounding tables turned to look at her, and she burst into laughter. David laughed too, a warm sound that made her instantly feel ten times more at ease.

‘Well, that's good to know. Wouldn't want this to be your only experience of getting out of the house, you might never go out again’ he had a very nice smile, Julia observed, raising her glass to her lips.

‘Oh, I don't know. I rather think knowing that we're both victims of Anne Sampson's peer pressure might take the pressure off a little' the corners of her mouth twitched a little as she tapped ghee nails on the tablecloth ‘We can have a perfectly nice platonic dinner, get her off our backs and hopefully stave off any further blind dates.’ David said nothing but raised his glass of water to clink against hers in a faux-solemn toast. His eyes were boring into hers with a sudden intensity that she didn't quite know how to cope with, so she turned to her menu instead and he did the same.

‘You definitely want to stay then?’ He said quietly after a moment, and she looked up to meet his eyes again.

‘Yes, David, I do. I'm here now, I've had a very busy day and I'm absolutely fucking starving' she suddenly worried that he thought she was actually coming on to him and hastily added ‘If you'd rather not, that's absolutely fine. I'll tell Anne we were here for hours and hours, I promise.’ She'd tried for levity and it seemed to have worked; he smiled back at her and didn't look away.

'What's good to eat here?’ He asked and Julia felt a little wave of victory.

'Actually, I've never been here before. We'll have to discover it together.’ In the end, he ordered a steak and she ordered the salmon. She ordered a nice bottle of wine and insisted on pouring him glass. It was a crisp white that wouldn’t pair especially well with red meat but he didn't strike her as someone who'd notice.

The evening passed quickly after that, in a haze of laughter and a fair amount of alcohol. After his first glass of wine, he'd helped her finish the bottle and then switched on to whisky and soda water while she'd ordered another bottle. They'd discussed work; he'd made a face of distaste when she told him she was a lawyer, she'd been rather more impressed with the confirmation that he was a detective sergeant. He'd told her about his children, she'd made the right noises and then impressed upon him just how relieved she was she'd never had them. They'd poured over their respective failed marriages, deciding that he technically won for still being on speaking terms with his ex-wife but she definitely deserved points for methodically cutting holes into the backs of all of her husband's work shirts that he wouldn't notice until he took his jacket off in the middle of a meeting. They'd ended up circling back round to work again when an alcohol-flushed Julia pointed her index finger into David's chest.

‘The trouble with you is obviously that you have no ambition' she was gratified by his chuckle, even though she was serious.

‘I don't think you can measure me by your own standards for ambition, Julia' he said. She liked the way her name sounded on his lips. ‘We haven't all been fixated on being the boss since we were twelve’. 

'Well, maybe that's the problem, David' the wine must have gone a long way to emboldening her; as confident as she always was, she didn't usually spend a lot of time telling comparative strangers what was wrong with their life choices. ‘Maybe you need something to fixate on.’ He just smiled in response, obviously amused at how passionate a slightly tipsy Julia was about the career strategy of a man she'd met barely ninety minutes ago. It was nice that he was smiling, she thought. Most men would probably be irritated, or condescending at the very least. Most men, she reflected bitterly with a flashback to her ex-husband, wouldn't have wanted to hear her opinion on anything, let alone asked insightful questions about every thought she offered up like David had.

‘To tell you the truth' he began and her eyes snapped back to his face ‘Everyone at the top seems so miserable. My bosses all run around all day with no patience and bags under their eyes, barely speaking to their families. It seems like everyone hates their job and that's not something I want any part of.’ He'd started his little speech hesitantly but by the end he was speaking in a more impassioned voice than she'd heard him use all evening and she felt her face flush again.

‘I don't' she said. ‘I'm at the top of my field and I love mine.’ He seemed to be waiting for her to go on, deliciously blue eyes locked on to hers. ‘Do I seem miserable to you?’

‘No’ his gaze was definitely evaluating her but Julia didn't think she'd ever felt less judged in her life. ‘No, you seem pretty calm. In control, in charge, definitely, but. Calm’ she really wasn't sure why she felt so thoroughly gratified by his words but she offered him a very genuine smile and enjoyed watching his bashful reaction.

‘Well, Detective Sergeant, I think that's the nicest thing you've said to me all night'

‘We're setting the bar pretty low there, aren't we?’ He asked and she gave him a questioning look, one red-taloned hand running through her hair. ‘I mean, this was supposed to be a date and the nicest thing I've said to you is that you're calm?’ Julia laughed. At this point, she'd take what she could get.

‘Trust me, the bar is higher than almost any other actual date I've ever been on in my life. You haven't called me a cold-hearted bitch, compared me to Lucrezia Borgia or physically slapped my hand away from my own purse yet, so actually, I think we're on to a winner' he looked almost shocked and she could have laughed again. ‘You must have had some pretty shit dates, Ms Montague’ was all he said but he was looking at her searchingly.

'Some men, the kind of men I meet especially, think women are supposed to be... accessible. Friendly, acquiescent. Sunny and smiling at all times, pretty hair, pretty dresses, pretty house. Not irritating, opinionated bitches who won't be talked over and won't smile on demand. And when they find out I adhere more to the latter category rather than the one they've made up in their heads... Well, that's when those dates tended to turn a little sour’ she'd been attempting for a kind of dry humour but it was only when she finished speaking that Julia realised how angry she sounded. She took a long gulp of wine, not meeting her dinner companion’s eyes.

'For the record' David said slowly ‘And not that it matters because this is no longer a date but, for the record, any man who made you feel bad about your strength and your success deserves to have his bollocks crushed in an iron vice.’ She chuckled wryly, raising her glass briefly in his direction.

‘I'll certainly drink to that' and she did. Excusing herself to go to the bathroom, as she passed him she put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed, feeling his fingers come up to curl around her wrist for just a second. Maybe it was just the light but she was sure she could see a flush on the back of his neck, spreading up from inside his collar. As she stood in front of the bright lights of the bathroom mirror, Julia felt something thrumming below her skin that she couldn't remember feeling in a really long time. It was happiness, she realised with quite a jolt; unadulterated happiness, unmarred by vindictive ex-husbands, workplace scheming or personal backstabbing. Her new friend seemed to be genuinely interested in what she had to say and spending time with her to hear her say it, and it was almost pathetic that that was all it took to cause the light she could see dancing in her eyes as she looked at her reflection.

When she got back to the table, he was smiling at her. ‘Will you think I'm a chauvinist pig if I ask to walk you out?’ He said and she felt laughter bubble up in her throat, snacking him lightly on the shoulder in false reproach.

‘I would like that very much' was her reply, and she even let him help her on with her coat into the bargain. They rode down in the lift in companionable silence, him standing at a comfortable distance that she closed as soon as they stepped out into the street. ‘The weather's still so nice, how would you feel about going for a walk?’ She asked, not giving him time to respond before she quickly added ‘It'll give you something more to lord over Anne's head until she comes through with those babysitting hours. Unless you need to be home right away?’

'No, the kids are at their mum's' David said quietly and to Julia, it felt like an unspoken agreement passed between them, an acknowledgement of the turn the evening had taken from the disastrous awkwardness of its first few minutes. The tension was palpable so she diffused it by offering him her arm in a funny old-fashioned gesture.

They walked in companionable silence for a while. ‘Do you like London, David?’ She said after a while and she was genuinely interested to know the answer. It wasn't that he seemed uncomfortable but she imagined him fitting in better with rocks and mountains. There was a stillness she thought she'd detected in him that didn't quite match the shallow, frenzied thrum of the city streets.

‘It's alright’ he shrugged ‘It's a little too anonymous for my liking. I grew up in Glasgow but even that is nothing like as busy as this. It’s so frantic, it just feels like... nobody's listening'

‘I'm listening' she said quietly and he met her eyes, slowing the patter of their feet on the pavement.

'Yes, I feel like you are' Julia could feel her face getting hot and briefly wondered how her night had gotten here from its dismal starting point. She placed a hand on his arm, somewhat more tentative than was normal.

‘Well, if you ever need someone to listen, I'm here' Julia desperately hoped that David construed that as nothing more than an offer of friendship, and simultaneously desperately hoped that he took it as something much, much more than that.

'That sounds like a bad pick-up line’ he said and instantly made a face. ‘God, bad joke, sorry. Ignore me.’ Julia felt a hot spike of adrenaline in her stomach. Now or never.

‘No, I don't think I will' she looked at him ‘It wasn't intended to be a pick-up line but now we're on the subject, you should come home with me.’ He stopped walking abruptly and she suspected that if she hadn't had a tight hold on his arm, he would have already been halfway down the street in the other direction.

‘Is that meant to be funny? Because, if you don't mind me saying so, it really didn't come off that way.’

'No' she said ‘It's meant to be a proposition.’

‘You're not joking. Why?’

‘Because I think that we like each other, we're attracted to each other and, completely contrary to my expectations, we understand each other. That's rare enough to want to do something about it, don't you think?’ He was staring at her. Pressed into his side, she could feel the up-down of his breathing and the rigid tension in his arms. His eyes were so fucking blue, she thought, and without thinking she brushed her thumb over his cheek. ‘Yes?’ her voice was soft, but assured. His lips met hers for a moment that was so brief she thought she might have imagined it and then almost before she knew it, they were bundled into a taxi and pulling up outside her apartment building.

They made their way inside and into the lift without speaking before he took her in his arms. ‘Can I kiss you?’

‘I rather think you'd better, don't you?’ so he did. She grabbed the lapels of his jacket and he was yielding when she kissed him, when she slipped her hands under his jacket and felt the shape of him under his crisp white shirt. As she pressed herself to him, she could feel the rise and fall of his chest and her heart was beating so fast he must have been able to feel that in return. The lift door opened and suddenly she was back at his side, nothing except the smudged edges of her lipsticked mouth giving away what activity she'd been engaged in seconds previously. Heart pounding, she strode forwards, trying not to let him see how much her fingers were trembling as she fished for her keys. She wasn't nervous, exactly; this had been her idea, after all. It was just that Julia Montague had always striven for perfection and it was perfection she was after, no matter how unattainable that might have seemed. When she slid the key into the lock, however, her companion's hand came to rest on the curve of her hip and she thought it might not have been so far out of reach.

‘Make yourself at home’ she said, pausing to shed her coat before heading straight for the liquor cabinet ‘Drink?’ She turned to look at him expectantly but found he was gazing around the room instead of at her. Her eyes followed the path his were tracking and she looked at the furnishings of her room with a new perspective; it was a grand room, that was certain, with pictures on the walls that had probably cost half his yearly salary apiece but (and maybe it was the alcohol talking) up until this moment, it had lacked a certain warmth. She'd never spent much leisure time in there, not that she had much to spend. With the presence of David illuminating it, however, Julia couldn't think of anywhere she would rather be. Nevertheless, she didn't appreciate that it was currently taking his full attention away from her.

‘David...’ she said in a low, lilting voice and his eyes immediately snapped back to her face. She swirled the whiskey bottle around invitingly ‘Would you like a drink?’ He didn't answer, instead striding over to wrap his arm around her waist and capture her mouth in a kiss again. Julia certainly didn't mind his proffered alternative to alcohol, her free hand finding their way up to the tangle of his hair before she pulled away to smile at him. ‘I'll take that as a no, shall I?’ He looked completely nonplussed, his eyes dark and obviously not focused on the array of bottles behind her. ‘To the drink?’ She clarified and he shook his head with a small smile on his face.

‘If you don't mind me saying so, I've got other things on my mind' his thumbs were hooked through her belt loops, keeping her pressed firmly against him.

'Oh, I don't mind one bit’ Julia reached behind her to replace the bottle before falling straight back into a kiss, using his positioning to grind her hips against his, eliciting a low groan that made her head swim with arousal. Before long she was unbuckling his belt and feeling him jump beneath her nimble fingers as his hands stroked their way up her sides until they tangled in her hair. Her own hands stroked him lightly and she felt his hips twitch, a smug smile crossing her face that made him chuckle.

‘Should have guessed you like to be the boss in the bedroom too' he murmured into her hair and she tilted her head back to fix him with a faux-reproachful look.

‘It may have escaped your notice, David, but we haven't actually made it to the bedroom yet' she pointed out, thumb skating over his hipbone.

‘Guess I must have been a bit distracted' he rumbled, his nails scraping lightly over the skin at the nape of her neck in a way that made her shudder. ‘Would you like to rectify that?’ Julia just nodded, taking his hands in her own and dragging him across the room until they reached her bedroom door.

As soon as they were inside, David broke their contact to kick off the trousers she had loosened and Julia just looked on in admiration. In a matter of seconds, he was back with his hands on her shirt, and she stretched to assist him as he lifted it over her head. The look on his face when she reached behind to let her bra fall to the floor was ridiculously gratifying and Julia knew she was smiling like an idiot. David's head bent to her neck and she let out a shaky breath, wrapping an arm around his neck and raking her fingers through his hair, then down until she reached the shirt still on his back.

'This hardly seems fair' she tugged at his collar ‘If you could just hold that thought for one second, David'. He obediently released her from his grasp to let her remove the offending item of clothing and she saw him shiver as the cool air hit his skin. ‘You may resume’ Julia said in a voice that was supposed to be a mockery of her most officious courtroom voice but actually came off a little pleading when combined with her flushed face and chest. David flashed her a cocky smile that made her go embarrassingly weak at the knees.

‘Oh, may I?’ She made a noise of assent that betrayed how worked up she was as she splayed her fingers against his bare chest, admiring the definition of the muscle there. ‘Not totally sure I remember where I was...’

‘Well then, perhaps you'd like to move on to pastures new’ Julia murmured in his ear, pushing her body up against his as though her meaning wasn't already plain. The look in David's eyes was intoxicating and she was left breathless when he kissed her ferociously. It was a hackneyed saying but she couldn't remember when she'd last felt so alive; the way David had listened to her all evening, the frisson of desire she felt whenever he looked at her, the delicious anticipation as she stood bare in front of him, breathing erratic as she waited to see where he would touch her next.

He kept his forehead pressed against hers as he backed her towards the bed until she was horizontal. When he finally entered her, it was a relief, felt like a homecoming, a foregone conclusion. Julia’s brain was so disengaged, so unable to focus on anything other than the feeling of him inside her and his hands mapping over her skin, that she didn't even realise how loud the noises she'd been making were until her moans were muffled by the press of his mouth against hers. When she felt herself beginning to clench around him, she felt simultaneously like they'd barely begun and that she was struggling to remember a time when he hadn't been fucking her.

David's harsh breaths and the solitary ‘fuck' he let out as she dug her nails into his shoulders only sent her closer to the edge and soon Julia’s eyes were screwed tightly shut in ecstasy, white heat enveloping her as, for once, she completely lost control. Through the foggy gaze of her orgasm, she felt his hips lose their shuddering rhythm and heard the strangled growl of her name before she was suddenly painfully empty. She let out a little whine and when her eyes blinked open, her companion was lying flat on his back next to her, his breathing even more strained than hers was. Julia reached her hand out to rest on his thigh, trying to subtly make it clear that she didn't want him to leave.

‘Of all the things I ever thought I'd have to thank Anne Sampson for, an earth-shatteringly good orgasm wasn't one of them' she said breathlessly and laughed when he groaned, putting a hand over his eyes.

‘Congratulations on thoroughly killing the mood, Julia' he grumbled, but it didn't stop him making a small noise of satisfaction when her hand shifted further up his thigh.

‘I'm willing to bet I can revive it' she said, turning to shoot him a challenging look before doing exactly that.

 

The next Monday, when Julia arrived at her office bright and early she was delighted to find an oblong pale pink box wrapped in a ribbon on her desk. Opening the lid to find several dusky pink roses inside, she couldn't stop a wide smile from spreading across her face. She was just about to open the attached florist's card when the mobile in her pocket starting blaring out its tiny tune. Pulling it out of her pocket, she saw who was calling and her smile became even more broad.

‘Well, hello there' she started to say but was very quickly interrupted by a frantic voice.

‘Please, please tell me you haven't got to work yet’ Julia frowned at the obvious anxiousness of the man at the other end of the phone.

‘I've just arrived at my office, actually, and was about to examine what I assumed was a lovely present’ it wasn't often that Julia had absolutely no idea what was going on but at this moment she was stumped.

‘Don't open it!’ if Julia hadn't been so thoroughly perplexed, she would have noticed that the apparent anxiety really brought out David's accent ‘Really, don't- the florist, they mixed up the cards...’

'Well, now I have to open it' Julia said, mind racing as she put the phone on speaker to do just that. Who on earth had he bought another bouquet of flowers for? She tried not to let her imagination go to a negative place but there was a slight tremor in her fingers as she opened the envelope, ignoring David's protestations.

 

_Dear Anne, Consider your babysitting duties written off. Julia is exceptional and so was our evening, promise never to question anything you say ever again._

_In your debt,_

_David_

 

Julia read the card once, then twice, then a third time without speaking. There was no noise from the other end of the phone either and the whole room was silent until Julia burst into laughter. She picked the phone up to her ear again, looking a little like the cat who'd got the cream.

‘How very, very interesting’ David may not have been able to see her but she was prepared to bet her smugness was radiating through the airwaves. ‘ _Exceptional_ , what an interesting adjective. What could you be referring to, David?’

‘Disappointed that you don't remember, Ms. Montague. Perhaps you need a reminder' was his response and although she was still grinning, Julia felt a little thrill at the bottom of her spine.

‘So what did my card say?’ She asked, and his response to that was an unintelligible stammer. Julia narrowed her eyes and badgered him to tell her but, whether from embarrassment or stubbornness, he refused to tell her and she eventually had to get on with something that was actually productive. The possible contents of her card stayed bubbling away at the corner of her mind, however, until a few hours later when she'd been just about to break for lunch before she was interrupted by a somewhat irascible Anne Sampson turning up at her office door.

‘Anne, how nice-' she began before the woman in question tossed a small, familiar-looking envelope onto her desk.

‘I'm glad you enjoyed yourself- and you're welcome, by the way- but if you could tell your new boyfriend to be a little more subtle in his expression of affection, that would be much appreciated' Anne's tone was disgruntled but her eyes were glimmering with mischief. Julia blushed but it wasn't until after she unsuccessfully tried to convince her friend to come to lunch with her and was alone again that she finally opened the card.

_Julia,_

_To pastures new. Thank you for looking beyond a first impression and teaching me to do the same. I hope you'll let me see you again so we can continue in this educational endeavour._

_David_

_P.S. I've still got a pair of your underwear in my suit pocket that might need returning to their rightful owner_

 

Again, Julia read the card once, twice and then three times before picking up her phone again and typing out a one-word message that read:

**_Tomorrow?_ **

The answer came a mere few seconds later.

**_Tomorrow._ **


End file.
